Zero Tolerance 0450CF Knife Pull Apart and Maintain

I’ve carried my Zero Tolerance 0450CF for at least a couple of years solid now. Actually I bought it as soon as I possibly could when it was released so it has seen some action. I only use it for light everyday general tasks so it isn’t abused but it is used a lot and I have neglected to maintain it.

My ZT0450CF has never seen one drop of oil and it has never been cleaned, other than wiping the blade off when it gets dirty. Up until recently I was selling knives for a living so I always had plenty of new shiny sharp things to tempt me. My knives changed so often that I rarely ever had to sharpen them. I became lazy and would buy a new knife before I maintained them.

But since I decided to spend the year here in Istanbul, Turkey I have cut back on buying EDC gear. All the knives I have on me right now are a Zero Tolerance 0450CF, Cold Steel XL Voyager, and a TOPS Knives MSF 4.0. I probably have more than 300 knives back in Australia (even after having a big sell off) and now I have three! That’s quite a change.

So I figured I should start to look after my knives a little better. You’ll see in the pictures below that my poor little ZT0450CF flipper really needed some love and attention.

You’ll need some torx bits to take out the screws. I used two T8 bits for the pivot and a T6 bit to unscrew the handle screws. Try to buy the best torx set you can as folding knives will often use loctite to prevent screws from loosening over time.

The cheaper torx sets will often just self destruct when they come up against a reasonably hard screw. I used this Kershaw torx set which is definitely on the cheaper side but I’m away from home and don’t have all my usual tools with me. I didn’t have any problems with this Kershaw set but I usually have a Torx set from Wiha. They’re a bit more expensive but definitely worth it.

I started by taking the two back torx screws holding the handle together. I left the carry clip on as I didn’t find it necessary to remove. The T6 torx bit did the trick and they came out pretty easily.

I then used two T8 bits to unscrew the pivot screw to reveal the mess above. That’s one very dirty and abused zt0450cf!! Honestly, the knife was still opening and closing very smoothly. I only decided to do this as I was going to make a video about cleaning a folding knife. My video camera battery died after about two minutes but I kept going and decided to do a blog post instead.

The detent ball is almost completely covered in filth. I’m surprised that the knife still functioned as well as it did. It was as buttery smooth as the day I bought it. Probably more so as it was very well worn in.

I don’t have any special cleaning products here with me in Istanbul. I do have a can of WD40 though which was perfect to help clean the knife up. Back home in Australia I could have blown a lot of the dirt and fluff out with an air compressor but I don’t think that would have worked in this case. My ZT0450CF was just so dirty that it needed to be pulled apart to clean it properly.

Here’s the lock bar side or the titanium side scale of the handle looking a whole lot better than it did just moments ago. The stainless steel insert and the detent ball can finally breather again!

In the photo above you can see that I have cleaned the titanium side of the handle. The carbon fiber side and the blade left to go. Oh, and the KVT encased ball bearings.

Above you can see all of the parts laid out from the Zero Tolerance 0450CF. There’s not a lot of parts to a good folding knife but it doesn’t take much for a knife to go horribly wrong. Everything has to be thought about, designed well, manufactured to precision, and put together properly.

Here you can see the track where the detent ball travels around and locks into place. I think the knife has held up pretty well for the amount of use it has had over the past couple of years.

The KVT ball bearings have held up pretty well. I expected more dirt and gunk on them. A quick rub and scrub and I ended up getting them to look brand new.

Generally I probably prefer my pocket knives to have ball bearings but it’s not something that influences my decision on whether or not to buy one. I’m fine with washers, I’m fine with ball bearings. I do prefer my ball bearings to be encased though. I don’t have the patience for loose ball bearings.

Here’s another photograph of the detent track on the S35VN blade of the 0450CF. One of the few places where the Diamond-like carbon (DLC) black coating actually comes off.

Here you can see where the titanium handle has worn a little bit around the pivot where the KVT ball bearings roll. Not an issue, just an observation.

I’m not usually brand loyal when it comes to oils and lubrication for pocket knives as they all seem to work well. Today I’m using Sentry Tuf-Glide as that’s all I brought with me from Australia. I try not to use too much of whatever oil it is though as it’ll attract dirt and fluff.

These are the tools and the lubricants that I used for the cleaning and maintenance of my Zero Tolerance 0450CF folding knife. You might want to use some blue loctite if you’re worried about your screws coming loose but I didn’t have any with me here.

It all went back together very smoothly. I just needed two T8 torx bits to tighten the pivot. Lock up is sweet and my blade centering is almost perfect. My 0450CF blade has always been off to the right just a little. I could never get it quite centered. I don’t obsess over blade centering but I do like them somewhere close to the center.

And there’s my new looking Zero Tolerance 0450CF flipper. It looked and felt like a brand new knife when I was finished. I’m going to start looking after my knives more, especially when I get back home and have all of my tools and equipment to work with.

See my ZT 0450CF review here for more pictures and information on this amazing little EDC flipper folding knife from Zero Tolerance. It’s one of my favorite smaller knives.